This Week in Fascism #20: Cruzin’ for a Bruising

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Welcome, fellow antifascists! This week, we’ve got Donald Trump threatening to add antifascists to a list of domestic terrorists, despite no such list existing; an arrest of one Patriot Prayer associate and a guilty plea from another; a former child actor outed as a white nationalist; a string of recent far-Right attacks; and a Proud Boy firing.

News

Trump Considers Declaring “ANTIFA” an Organization of Terror

After petition to list 'antifa' as "domestic terrorist" group which is simply re-write of an anti-#BlackLivesMatter petition + Fox News giving it air time this week, Trump is now tweeting about it, even though there is no list of "domestic" terror groups. https://t.co/avVIUq8Gi8

Antifa petition was launched by Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys who attended Unite the Right in Charlottesville and Roger Stone's "mini-me," Jacob Engels. Speak out against violent far-Right groups with connections to the GOP pushing to criminalize protest against Trump. pic.twitter.com/7frX7pwgM7

The petition was of course started by none other than the Proud Boys’ Honored Urologist Enrique Tarrio and sometimes-Proud-Boy/sometimes-journalist Jacob Engels.

Here is our statement on recent efforts to criminalize dissent and protest, co-signed by ally organizations: https://t.co/vyFCVtWq2wIf you or your organization would like to add your names to this document, please email us! We are stronger together!

In response, antifas everywhere declared their continued commitment to community defense.

Proud Boys Threaten Far-Right Researcher

In a new article in the Daily Beast, a far-Right researcher received a late night visit from a Proud Boy, who threatened them for their continued research. This is the latest in a string of similar incidents, including a similar visit aimed at humorist Vic Berger, who was visited by a Proud Boy at his home after he made a video about Gavin McIness. According to to article:

Members of the far-right Proud Boys men’s group allegedly made a threatening late-night visit recently to the home of one of their critics, the latest in the group’s escalating actions against its detractors.

Gwen Snyder, an amateur researcher in Philadelphia who tracks the group’s movements, wasn’t at home when a group of men visited her residence around 11 p.m. on June 29. Instead, the men talked to her neighbor, according to Snyder, and warned that Snyder needed to stop posting the names of Proud Boys members and other information on Twitter.

Security camera footage that Snyder provided to The Daily Beast shows a group of men, including one who appears to be wearing a motorcycle helmet, congregating outside Snyder’s house. Before leaving her street, two of the men put up Proud Boys stickers on poles on the block, according to the video. Snyder said another sticker for the Proud Boys’ Philadelphia chapter was left on her front door.

“It’s really disconcerting, both personally in terms of my own safety, and also just terrifying to think that’s where we’re at as a country,” Snyder said.

The Proud Boys didn’t respond to a request for comment. Snyder, who reported the threat to Philadelphia police, shared the security camera footage with The Daily Beast on the condition that the video not be made public to avoid interfering with any police investigation.

Before the Proud Boys visited her home, according to Snyder, she’d received messages from Twitter accounts threatening to kidnap her pets. Snyder’s parents had also been deluged with harassing phone calls.

The visit to Snyder’s home was also preceded by a post on Telegram, a Russian encrypted messaging app that’s become increasingly popular with far-right extremists in the United States. In the post, made in a channel that’s used by Proud Boys to organize internet harassment campaigns, an anonymous Proud Boy called for coordinated action against Philadelphia’s “biggest shit stains.”

“Stay tuned info [sic] on a few of Phillys biggest shit stains coming soon and we are going to need everyone’s help,” the post read.

Pacific Northwest Neo-Nazi Erik Oelkers Arrested

After CrimeStoppers offered a reward for a probation violation tied to federal gun charges, US Marshals on Friday arrested Portland, OR neo-Nazi Erik Floyd Oelkers. Oelkers had been active in the Northwest far-right scene, appearing frequently at Patriot Prayer related events (including the attack on Cider Riot) and participating in a racist attack on a DJ with other neo-Nazis in Everett, WA in December.

He was picked up by the US Marshals but they rent beds from the county jail. That’s why no charges are listed.

The public ask the other day said he violated the terms of his probation for his federal felon in possession of a firearm. pic.twitter.com/ZysNOPTRtL

Kyle “Based Stickman” Chapman, founder of the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights (the ‘military wing’ of the Proud Boys) and Resist Marxism, pled guilty to Aggravated Assault – Deadly Weapon, a second-degree felony, in Travis County, Texas.

Now defunct, members of the Fraternal Order of Alt-Knights attended the first Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017, for which Chapman is currently being sued in Sines v. Kessler.

Resist Marxism has recently rebranded as Super Happy Fun America, the organizers behind the upcoming Straight Pride Parade. In Spring 2018, Resist Marxism was linked to open neo-Nazi groups like Patriot Front, and other hate groups like the Proud Boys and the American Guard.

Far-Right and Racist Attacks Continue

Late last week, near Modesto, California, a Sikh temple was attacked by someone screaming, “Go back to your country!” A priest at the temple was also physically attacked. People at the temple say that this is only the latest in a wave of racist phone calls and threatening messages leveled against the place of worship.

Longtime antifascist organizer @DLamontJenkins quoted in this article about tragic #gilroyshooting and the killers promotion of a far-Right, racist text. "It is a staple among neo-Nazis + white supremacists sites 4chan’s /pol/ board and The Daily Stormer." https://t.co/2f59h5i4cb

In Gilroy, California, a young man shot and killed several people at the Gilroy Garlic Festival, located outside of Santa Cruz. Social media posts show him making racist comments and also promoting the far-Right and anti-Semitic book, Might Makes Right. NBC News wrote:

The book strongly advocates combat, violence and death along racial lines, and is filled with anti-Semitic rhetoric. It is a staple among neo-Nazis and white supremacists on extremist sites such as 4chan’s /pol/ board, National Vanguard, Stormfront and The Daily Stormer. Links to the PDF version of the book have been posted hundreds of times on 4chan in the last several years, including as recently as last month.

Daryle Lamont Jenkins, the founder and executive director of the anti-racist One People’s Project organization, said this specific sort of propaganda circulation has been a strategy by white supremacists for 30 years.

“It goes back as far as the ‘80s,” Jenkins said. “I remember Aryan Nations was some of the first to start using the internet … then the general public came on in ’95. White supremacists have been using the internet to disseminate their views for that long.”

“The people who are reading it — they’re not going to the bookstore to get Mein Kampf.”

I can confirm that Young Israel of Bal Harbour received a suspicious package this a.m. w/threats & anti-Semitic rhetoric. It must be known that the Jewish community will NOT cower in fear. We stand strong, united, and proud. Thank you Surfside & Bal Harbour PDs for your response. pic.twitter.com/1kxmmECUkr

Tuesday, July 23, 2019: Former Child Actor Outed as White Nationalist

Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists identified Kenneth Edward Cruey, a former child actor and member of the American Identity Movement, a white nationalist organization formerly known as Identity Evropa. Cruey currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, and is a registered Republican.

In the leaked Identity Evropa chats, Cruey used the display name Kenneth – NV, and shared pictures of Identity Evropa flyers and stickers he posted on the UNLV campus and the Las Vegas strip.

As of 2017, Cruey attended UNLV, and may still be a student there. Write to Kim Metcalf, Dean of Students at [email protected], and Danica Hays, Executive Associate Dean at [email protected], to ask if they have a white nationalist among their student body. Provide a link to the Colorado Springs Anti-Fascists’ article on Cruey.

In addition to being a member of a hate group, Hufton has a history of making violent threats. He has a record of domestic violence charges, and was part of the Proud Boys chat recently caught planning a since-cancelled violent rally in Providence, Rhode Island.

In the chat, Proud Boys and their associates shared pictures of protesters they planned to target during the event, and traded photos of the weapons they planned to bring.

In response to the dox, reports indicate that Hufton was fired by Tractor Supply on the morning of Friday, July 26, 2019.

“Trigger Tom” Doxxed

Click thru to learn more about Trigger Tom's life, white nationalist history plus how he sabotaged the entire #Chicago Proud Boys network by making & posting a music video w/ their real names in the credits. Or just watch their vid https://t.co/KBjQKAEztrhttps://t.co/FMEiLYc66T

In April, Christensen appeared at a pro-police rally alongside Brien James, President of the Indiana Proud Boys and co-founder of the American Guard, a rebrand of the Vinlanders Social Club, a neo-Nazi skinhead gang also founded by James.

In in the early 2000s, James faced an attempted murder charge for beating a man almost to death after the man refused to Sieg Heil. In 2017, Christensen faced assault charges after stabbing two strangers at a Dropkick Murphys concert in Northerly Island.

Formerly of Portland, Oregon, Christensen was a member of neo-Nazi group Volksfront International. On the white supremacist Stormfront forums, he used the handle Whitepunx, where he posted 3-4 times per week from 2010-2012.

In 2012, he was identified by Rose City Antifa as gathering information on leftists through his ties to the Portland punk scene.

Christensen was identified by Chicago Antifa after they were alerted to an unlisted YouTube video entitled “Chicago Proud Boys Sabotage,” where members of the group named each other to the tune of the Beastie Boys’ “Sabotage.”

American Identity Movement Identified

The guy on the top left who was at AmIM's disruption of Politics & Prose has been identified as Kurtis Bailey Buckingham aka as "Konrad -MD" on Discord servers. A full article about him will be out soon.https://t.co/ZxryroWofPhttps://t.co/hVVuRacLBG

In April, Buckingham traveled to Washington, DC, to participate in an AmIM-led disruption of a Jonathan Metzl talk at the Politics and Prose bookstore. Ironically, Metzl’s talk was a discussion of how the white working-class often votes against its own class interests, creating health hazards that shorten their lifespans and depreciate their quality of life.

Panic! has promised that a full article will follow soon.

Just like to remind you of a local teacher, Jarod Chase Cantrell, who drove to a student's house at night and climbed through the window to commit sexual abuse. He was charged, but his case was thrown out due to a technicality, where being called a rapist would bias the trial. pic.twitter.com/T8JsD6aR7V

Deplatforms

A pressure campaign from antifascist activists cancelled a Wake County GOP event at a sports bar in Cary, North Carolina.

The event was scheduled to host Hussein Hill, a member of the Proud Boys and American Guard, for a forum entitled “Who are the Proud Boys?”

Call to Action:

A white nationalist and anti-LGBTQ event, billed as “Straight Pride,” is scheduled to take place in Modesto, California, and is being organized by local GOP organizers who have explicitly asked that the Proud Boys show up alongside them. Local GOP movers and shakers are also pushing to have white nationalist, anti-Semitie, and anti-LGBTQ bigot Don J Grundmann, one of the Straight Pride organizers, return to Modesto in October to speak at a Republican event at a local Italian restaurant. People are being asked to put pressure on the local GOP and the restaurant to cancel the event.

Script:

“Hello, I am calling to ask that you cancel the upcoming speaking event on October 3rd featuring white nationalist, anti-Semite, and anti-LGBTQ bigot Don J Grundmann, which is being organized by locals affiliated with the Republican party group, the California Republican Assembly – Stanislaus. Grundmann’s hate has no place in our community and should be opposed.”

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